At the start of the 90's UK club scene was already experiencing the explosion of acid house, which was emerged at the Second Summer of Love in '88. Meanwhile, the first generation of progressive house tracks has begun to surface with the support of legendary labels such as Guerilla & Limbo Records, championed by producers William Orbit & Leftfield and played in clubs by Sasha & John Digweed, prior to their stardom. Tunes of the genre that have been also presented in the blog are the following:
Early progressive house tracks had the mixture of elements for a chugging dancefloor filler; dubby / groovy basslines accompanied by spacey & atmospheric synths & long chords. Back to 1991, a hidden artifact of that era can be found:
LATITUDE - ES LA ROSA (PIANO MIX)
LATITUDE - ES LA ROSA (GUITAR MIX)
Latitude was a short-lived project of art students David Hill and Ellen McAuslan, based in London. The duo was one of the first signings for Nude Records, mostly known for releasing the first works of English alternative rock band Suede.
Their first release was a white label for the discographic company, possibly influenced by the rising popularity of progressive house. Es La Rosa is a balearic prog tune, presented in two different editions; A-side contains more vocals with a leading piano melody, while the B-side is dubbier combined with a lead guitar! Both versions contain the classic stabs which are easily recognizable in the music style.
A nice trivia for the track is that it was the first vinyl release for Sean Johnston (performing mixing duties), curator of the ALFOS events along with the late Andrew Weatherall. IMO, it shares similarities with the remix of the latter for Sly And Lovechild – The World According To Sly & Lovechild (1990).
Little information can be found on the Internet regarding the group and its members. Only available information at the moment is that Ellen McAuslan continues to work in the art business as an animator and art director. I wonder if the group members are aware of their contribution to the early progressive music; the way it should be!
P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
